A Week of Appointments and Mama-Trials.

I hate to be a wimp. But really, I definitely am. And this last week did me in. This evening, after trying to clean up dinner, get Lanny to bed, get Moon in the bath and talk with Patrick, I totally lost it. Not in a make-fun-of-myself-later way either. I started shaking so hard that I couldn't stand up anymore. So to the couch I went for some serious deep breathing while P did his best to handle the outrageous nighttime routine that was going on.
Anyhow, I think I fully recovered ;)
That being said, this last week has just kicked my butt. Moon had an impromptu eye doctor appt to check on her progress and to discuss eye surgery. Since we were able to get in because of another cancellation, we were put into a 1.5 hour time slot. Great. Those are the manageable appointments, so I took it to avoid going at the end of the month and doing a back to back Landon-Moon eye appt. Lanny, Moon and I get there, the appointment is going well and then they decided that we should do a full eye exam on Moon, since....drumroll...she has GREAT improvement in her crossing/lazy eye/googly eye! This means we are in for a 3.5 hour appt with not nearly enough snacks or toys. Luckily the closed cafeteria lady allowed us to buy 2 bananas with exact change.
The great news of her crossing improvement changes the direction that they want to go with her treatment. This is technical talk, so opt out at any time:
She used to cross her eyes at about 9 degrees, especially her left eye. That eye is now crossing at around 3 or 4 degrees. Finally some serious progress. When surgery is done to correct crossing, it can usually only correct to within 3 degrees, thus surgery may not be prudent in Moon's case because over-correcting is an issue. Another development is that most of the crossing is occurring at close distances, as opposed to far distances. This is partially due to the atropine drop we put in her right eye, to force her left eye to work harder, but only at far distances. So we need to strengthen her left eye's close vision. To do this, we will get the right lens in her backup glasses replaced with a non-prescription lens that she will wear most of the time for the next couple of months. To deal with the lack of vision improvement and the general tendency to cross either eye a bit at close distances, we will also be switching her prescription to a bi-focal. Very cute.
So, big sigh and deep breath, we are going to "check again" in 2 months to discuss improvement and need for surgery. I made it clear that we must do the surgery this year if it's going to be done because of $$$$ in medical expenses this year. The doctor was supportive of that, thank goodness. She also reminded me that each of these appointments will feed into our deductible that has to be met, so it's no loss either way. Well, unless you count money lost. Which I do. But I digress.
Here are some pics from our time spent at OHSU Casey Eye Center.

Big girl in the exam chair. Hiding from the flash.

Lanny entertaining himself; Mama reading a magazine.

Lots more waiting...

Then Friday, it was off to the dentist for some dental work on the Moon. She had to have lots done under GA, but I think the worst part was getting her to go under! That kidsfights the medicine and metabolizes it quickly, according to the anesthesiologist. Glad that it's all done and she is now on a no sugar without immediate teeth brushing plan. Not that she had much before, but her 1 biscotti and 1 juice a day are omitted :( I feel so bummed for her because she already can't eat so many things. Guess it's her lot in life. At least she still gets burgers and hotdogs!!!

It took me a full 5 days to write this post! I think that this next week at Nanny and Papou's will help me to decompress! Then it's back to the dentist for MOon and I , the eye doc for Lanny and surgery for Patrick. Then September of madness will end!

So yesterday Moon and I paid a visit to "very helpful optician man". We brought him the broken glasses and I was already feeling really self-conscious because the "very rude optician lady" gave me the evil eye about being in there AGAIN with broken glasses. I think she doesn't like children.
Anyhow, "very helpful optician man" took one look at the glasses and said, "this isn't working, is it"? I instantly felt like crying, because he was being understanding (WTF is with these damaged emotions anyhow?). Moon then tried on a million more glasses and found some that almost work and he thought that he had a brand all figured out, but then realized that they don't make it small enough. As my dear friend Adrienne says, "Seen this Movie...".
He validated our crappy situation, told us we were in between a rock and a hard place, sympathized with Moon being so young and having a big responsibility, then continued to try to help us! He ended up ordering several pairs of somewhat flexible glasses in the smallest sizes to see if any of them will work. Totally nice and way above and beyond. Three cheers for "very helpful optician man"! I even called my mom when we left. So you know I was impressed.

Hey Look! Broken glasses again.

I had actually ordered her second pair this morning, after much deliberation with very helpful optician. It turns out that there really aren't any flexible frames that will fit Moon! None. Isn't that awesome how they make these flexible frame glasses for children, but not toddlers?? Perfectly logical, as far as I can reason.
I love spending $250 on another pair of glasses that she will break every 24-48 hours. The good news is that it's the same break as last time and I know it can be fixed with another order of "parts".

Witness the horror...

Around 24 hours after Mooner got her glasses, she broke them. This is no surprise to us, however, replacing/repairing them is a terrible joke. I have ordered her a new pair over the dubious "internet" and taken this pair in to be repaired. This, of course, involves ordering Parts. Sigh.

So today Moon has only taken her glasses off once. I think that she loves being able to see, thank goodness. Yesterday was a bit more rough. It was a real trip watching her right after putting on the glasses. She sat and quietly cried for an hour. I couldn't really help her and I felt so damn sad. I think that she was just totally blown away by the experience. I really can't imagine how she felt. Today she is a wild animal, doing all the things she usually does, but with a little more interest. I will be posting a bit about her vision problems later, just because I knew so little and would love to share this with other people who may not know much either.

Moon's new specs!